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Clash Of The Skywalkers: A Closer Look

So with a little less than a month before we meet the Freemakers (*giddily fangirling*), I figure we should get the Closer Looks on the New Yoda Chronicles wrapped up ’bout now. And now, a little Lego SW for your Thursday 🙂NOTE: Contains spoilers from Episode I, Episode IV, Episode VI, Episode VI, Episode VII, Rebels episode Shroud Of Darkness, The Empire Strikes Out, Menace Of The Sith, Escape From The Jedi Temple, Race For The Holocrons, Raid On Coruscant, and Clash Of The Skywalkers.

I still do find it fascinating they chose to end the Chronicles with a seventh chapter instead of a sixth or a ninth, and to make it a cliffhanger on top of it! But somehow it works anyway, and it’s still funny, clever, exciting, and sweet the way all Lego Star Wars is. Anyway, so we open with lots and lots of TIE fighter traffic. Hehe those pilots may be ruthless to Rebels, but at least they’re courteous to each other! Vader be like *facepalm* XD They’re in a bit of a rush today, you see… they’re looking for a certain Skywalker who maaaaay have helped destroy all their precious holocron intel a short time ago and a certain Emperor maaaaaay not be happy. Despite the rocky start, the Darth’s on his a-game today ’cause he quite immediately clashes with young Skywalker as he surveys Imperial space. Poor Luke hardly stood a chance it seems as Darth Vader downs his X-wing in about four seconds. Le gasp! Has the dark lord finally won?? And then, amidst the wreckage, Artoo casually saunters over to JEK-14’s stealth ship and we find that Luke was a holograph all along! (Or would that be hologram? I always get them mixed up… either way it’s a holo, I guess) Can’t believe they didn’t take the opportunity to have Ackbar say “IT’S A WRAP!“, but I guess they already did that in The Padawan Menace so it’s OK. Yeah even the masters were a little spooked by the fake-out “I’m a ghost and I still sweated through my robe!” TMI, OBI-WAN…!
So with Vader finally off their tails, the Rebs can finally get off Mustafar and get to their new permanent base. Also, I know I probably should’ve said this by now, but one thing I love about the Lego universe is getting to see characters from the OT hanging out on worlds from the PT. It makes for some really fun stories and is a further reminder that everything is connected and it all exists in the same galaxy. But I’ve rabbit-trailed. So though this is supposed to be a victory, Luke feels it’s a bit of a hollow one, as he much rather’dve defeated Vader for reals. Leia encourages him to be patient as the important thing right now is to lay low, but Luke definitely has a case of the mopes.
‘Course he’s not the only one having a bad day. Han is not a fan of the new base. AT. ALL. Understandable, ’cause it’s Hoth. I mean, it’s great that it’s far from the eyes of the Empire, but that weather though… I mean, Chewie’s done frozen solid! Yeeees Han I would say he’s cold XP
However, I’d say Darth Vader’s having a great day! STORMTROOPAH CONGA LINE EVRAHBODYY!! Needless to say, a couple Imperials aren’t thrilled about bursting his bubble that Luke might’ve not’ve been onboard that X-wing to start with. Vader seems to take it rather well at first… and then retreats to his personal chamber to have a hissy fit that’d make his grandson proud XD If it weren’t for the fact he needed help fixing his chamber afterwards I’m pretty sure his ‘troopers would equally be all “NOPE”.
Oh yeah, I love the callback to Menace Of The Sith with the “Echo Base Jedi Educational Center” sign. Honestly the idea that the Jedi had claimed the base first is really cool and it oughta be no-questions canon. ‘Course maybe it is by now there’s a lot of recent literature I haven’t read yet. Another thing we learn is that Chewie isn’t a fan of celery. The things you can learn from these specials! It’s the little details about their lives that are often the most fascinating 🙂 And oh yeah we also learn THERE’S A WAMPA IN THE BASE! WAMPAAAA!! And the worst thing is not that they could be eaten but that they have to go back into the freezing cold again. Yep, it’s a beautiful day all right.
The fact that Luke has “too much of his father in him” is very clear as he’s beyond impatient waiting for some action ’round here. After all, those Jedi in his ‘cron weren certainly always on the move! He tosses the holocron to the ground in frustration, but soon finds there’s quite a bit more to see than he could just squinting at the smol blue box. Luke finds himself viewing an entire mission as Obi-Wan and Yoda attempt to rescue Sio Bibble from Dooku and his droids. Again, love the collision of eras! Though yeesh you’d think he would’ve put two and two together on the “little green boy” situation 😛 Also good question how did they record these things to begin with? The things these ‘crons can do! Much of it is still a mystery! Unfortunately, Luke is so caught up watching the action he misses out on the… um… Imperial probes hovering nearby. Totally understand though; I don’t notice much of anything when I’m focused on my Star Wars 🙂 “OMG WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT?! MUCH INTRIGUE! MUCH AWESOME! MUCH– Wait… what do you mean the house is on fire?” #StarWarsLife
So yeah Palpatine wasn’t happy to hear his apprentice blew it yet again. “YOU WERE FOOLED BY AN R2 UNIT?!” “But it wasn’t just any R2 unit, it was R2-D2!” “i’m starting to think I should’ve turned him to the dark side instead.” “You know how to hurt a guy” XD XD But somehow he still gives him one more chance to prove himself. Darth gives a spirted “Yippee!” to that. And I basically died laughing. Also is it weird I’ve become a bit of a Royal Guard fangirl as of late? I’m pretty sure I can blame my Star Wars Costumes book for that development but eeeee they’re just so COOOOOL! Oh, and then the whole “are we there yet?” bit… just too good, man. Solidness.
So Luke’s really getting into that holocron battle, especially when a young Anakin steps out. He immediately recognizes the name and realizes it’s his dad out there being amazing. Though I have to say this probably wasn’t the ideal holocron footage of his dad to view right now… it’s not the patient Anakin teaching younglings we see in Rebels, it’s the rather impatient reckless apprentice Anakin breakin’ all the rules! Luke’s all “Whoa that was the best move ever!” even though this is totally not the lesson he should be picking up atm. I mean, there’s a time and place for that real-world-influenced spontaneity that made the elder Skywalker so darn good, but not when the younger Skywalker’s chomping at the bit to do something. So when Leia and JEK deliver news that the Empire’s on their way over thanks to his holocron, Luke takes a cue from his dad and decides to go meet Vader face-to-face while Leia finishes the evac. OK is that not kinda freaky, the thought that Luke learns a move from his dad to fight his dad? Whoo is it ever gonna be a clash!
Meanwhile, Han and his crew were a bit hung up… haha puns, ’cause the wampa had them literally hung up on his ceiling. I guess he does that to keep the meat cold. Threepio decides to deliver a few choice wampa-ian words that apparently Han said, which ultimately leads to the wampa knocking him down right where his blaster was. They still end up running out of the cave screaming with the beast at their backs but hey, Threepio’s plan actually saved their lives! Crazy!
“…like a space fox!”
I’m sorry that quote is perfect. Probably a bad segue for the post but still a great quote. JEK was entirely questioning Luke’s plan, and that’s about when Palpatine’s shuttle smacked right into his x-wing. Vader don’t buy it at first, but then he’s all “GREAT GUNRAY’S GHOST IT IS HIM!!” and I can definitely tell you I’ll be using that line a lot now too. Dude you just don’t question the Emperor mkay? He may be a little wrinkly but he’s as sharp as a tack! Well, except he did launch the TIEs before the pilots go in ’em… but don’t judge bro anyone coulda done that! But whoa now Luke and JEK have literally the entire Empire after them. Bold move. Veryyyy bold move. Just like a Skywalker to do that 🙂
So Han, Chewbacca, and Threepio were having a pretty good time. Being chased by a wampa in a snowspeeder and all. I don’t even know how that happened, but if not for that, Threepio might not’ve inadverdently domesticated the tauntaun for the Rebels! And Han did some sweet moves on his Wookiee snowboard! Though yeah I’m so sorry you spent the entire episode as an ice block Chewster. Now if they could just get that landing pad lit already, it’ll have been a successful day…
I must take a minute again to applaud the genius and wit of Lego SW. The sign that says “YES. That asteroid field” is among the greatest of the hilarious signs they’ve placed around the SW galaxy XD Vader’s all “OMG HE PULLED AN ANAKIN ON ME THAT COPYCAT!” as Star Destroyer after Star Destroyer takes some serious damage. And then when a few Rebel fighters join the party, well, let’s just say the Empire gets packin’. “DO SOMETHING EVIL!” “Might I suggest we run?” “THAT SOUNDS GOOD TOO!” Finally Ackbar’s the one who gets to set the trap! And man the bros on Hoth almost didn’t get things lit up in time. That is exactly why Chewie carries candles in his bandolier. Pays to be a “sensitive guy” huh? Pff I’m sure Maz approves 🙂 Yay Chewbacca saved the day! Even though he’s probably going to need a lot of time in the bacta tank after this. And the golden droid finally got some appreciation… but not the kind he was looking for. Han… I know you were doing it as a joke, but you should absolutely know better than to kiss a droid on Hoth. Leia, you better go get your blow drier… we’re gonna be out here a while.
Though the Rebels are settled and the Imps are gone baby gone, the Skywalker boys are still at it. However, their exciting one-on-one space battle becomes an exciting one-on-one duel quite quickly after they both crash on the same asteroid. Also Vader finally did get himself an astromech at some point, and he looks like he’s ready to throw down… at least, up until Artoo completely one-ups him in the weapons department and the other R2 runs off screaming. The flamethrower is a nice touch. But then Vader gets personal AND FORCE-SHOVES ARTOO INTO A CRATER!! DUDE THAT’S JUST COLD! So no questions they’re bringin’ out the ‘sabers! Luke fares pretty well for the first couple minutes, but soon finds himself on the edge of that deep crater. But then Luke gets a little idea… also this line “I’d laugh if it didn’t sound weird and cause me horrible pain” is it wrong I laughed really hard at that? As for Luke’s idea, he knew Vader couldn’t resist throwing a rock at him. A rock that ultimately would awaken a ferocious giant SPACE SLUG!! I was applauding young Skywalker for his ingenuity… and then we find out that the beast is actually Darth’s pet. Wow. I guess if you want a pet that makes a statement, you get a legendary giant slug. I wonder if it’s the same one in Episode V, ’cause you’d think he might’ve looked there in his pursuit of the Falcon. Maybe there’re just two giant slugs in this corner of the galaxy. Or maybe this is noncanon and I’m just looking into this way way too deeply. But yeah needless to say things didn’t go that well… the slug ate Luke. Thankfully a lightsaber to the uvula gets him outta there quickly but it looks like Vader actually did win today. Well, I guess you gotta let the guy have a win sometime! It hasn’t happened often lately. But for now, Luke’s off to ride tauntauns for the Rebels… at least if he ever stops floating aimlessly through space. STORMTROOPAH CONGA LINE!!!
Ah delightful! The Yoda Chronicles have been quite the ride, from their beginning to their finale. It felt really good to take a minute and revisit this super-fun chapter in the Lego Star Wars saga as we prepare for its next, and perhaps most thrilling, chapter as we enter unknown between-Empire-and-Jedi territory and make some new friends before too long 🙂 So until next post…